First of all, thank you all for your prayers – Corinne is feeling much better. Unfortunately she was not feeling good enough by time to leave for touring today for us to go. She missed the Great Wall and I know she is disappointed. She has a good attitude about it though and this gave her an opportunity to recover well today. Please continue to pray that she remains healthy. Stacy has had some head-spinning, and we are hydrating, hydrating, hydrating, doing our best to be as healthy as possible for next Monday when we get Lily.
So we spent the first part of our day praying and trying to make the best decision regarding Corinne’s health, and ultimately decided that the main purpose for which God has us here is to bring our precious Lily home. That means that all of this other “stuff”, though wonderful and important, pales in comparison to that main purpose for being here. This has given me a little time to reflect on what’s really important in life. I don’t have this all right, and I probably never will, but I can remember seasons in my life, some not so distant in the past, where I have had my priorities way out of whack. Today was a good test of my ability to not allow my disappointment (mostly for Corinne – Stacy and I have been to the Great Wall before) to control my life, but to allow the Holy Spirit to work and guide my decisions according to His purposes. Thank you, Abba Father, for not giving up on me!
We have been able to connect with some other families here from our agency, and they are all wonderful people. We have learned of two other families who are adopting older girls. One family is adopting a 7-year-old girl, another is adopting a 13-year-old girl, and you probably remember that our Lily is 9 years old. It has been wonderful to connect with these families and support one another emotionally and prayerfully. One family has their 15-year-old biological daughter with them and she was so sweet this morning to sit with Corinne for a few minutes while Stacy and I grabbed some quick breakfast. Thank You, Abba Father, for your provision and protection!
After the other families returned from touring, the dear family whose daughter stayed with Corinne in the morning came to our room and brought us rocks they had picked up on the Great Wall. They had also purchased gifts from the Cloisonné Factory for us to give our girls – two beautiful little teapot ornaments. They also brought over their SD card from their camera for me to download their Great Wall pictures onto our iPad. This was such a blessing to us, to have this family caring for us in this way, and clearly this was the work of The Lord.
We joined the other families for a Chinese dinner at a great restaurant within walking distance from our hotel. This was our first chance to really all connect together with the other adoptive families, and this was a special time of sharing our stories how God has moved to bring these children into our lives. They all shared concern for Corinne’s health and were happy that she was feeling better. Corinne, by the way, ate like a champ at the restaurant last night, and absolutely loved all of the food! Praise the Lord!
Here are some pictures which the other family so graciously shared with us…
Grace sufficient, Love compelling 